I'll Catch You If You Fall
by thewannabe
Summary: Entering a whole new High School and making a rather bad first impression. How hard can the life in Karakura Town?     Ichigo x OC
1. Chapter 1

The school bell had just ringed and the hallways were empty and silent, only running footsteps broke the silence together with a quick breath. While listening to myself running, I looked down on the note in my hand, trying to remembering which class it was while keeping track at which one I passed. When I finally stopped in front of the right door, I was already 15 minutes late. I ran my fingers through my brown curls and tried to control my breathing, when I heard someone running around the corner and towards me.

I looked up, meeting a pair of deep, intensive, brown eyes and I noticed the bright orange hair. He was breathing quickly while starring rather confused at me, making me blush faintly. I hated when people starred at me.

The door suddenly slid open, and the teacher stuck her head out, looking at me the same way as the guy, but then she turned her head, glaring annoyed at the guy, ''Kurosaki, you're late… Again!'' she announced and looked back at me, suddenly smiling friendly, ''you must be the new student, Akino Saya, right?'' I nodded quietly and bit my lip; I hated something like this, having all those people starring at me in a few minutes.

The guy walked into the classroom, trying to escape the teachers glare, I noticed how tall and strong built he actually was, not something I had expected for some one around my age.

The teacher looked back at me, giving me the sign to come in and I bit my lip harder before walking inside.

The students started to talk immediately and I couldn't even get myself to look up, just biting my lip harder.

My knees started to shake when I finally got myself to look up; I met the curios stares from the whole class. ''This is Akino Saya, she'll be attending in our class from now on'' the teacher barely got to finish speaking before loud talking erupted among the students, several talking about; how I didn't look Japanese.

A girl suddenly gasped on the front row, holding a hand in front of her mouth while pointing directly at me, ''Om my god! She's bleeding!'' several other girls gasped and the talking stopped. I looked down and starred at the blood that had dripped down on the floor, without knowing, I had bit hard enough in my lip, for it to start bleeding. ''Wait… Is she?'' another girl asked before everything went black before my eyes.

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up, feeling confused and having nausea.

''so you decided to wake up again…''

A slightly arrogant but calm voice spoke out next to me and I looked, meeting the same brown eyes like before. I didn't say a word, but had to struggle not to bite my lip again. He sighed faintly and leaned back in the chair, which stood next to the bed I was laying on.

''you can't deal with blood, can you?'' he asked while scratching his back head, his eyes kept starring at me with an expression, that I couldn't read. I looked down while my fingers started to fiddle with the blanket, ''no, I tend to faint when I see it…'' I said while sighing and smiling depressed, ''what a fantastic first impression to make… faint in front of the whole class _and_ being late…'' I rubbed my hand against my forehead, but stopped when I heard him chuckling faintly.

''I found it quite entertaining. The way your eyes rolled back in your head and then you suddenly fell backwards'' he said while grinning and I glared at him, ''shut up…'' I grumbled slightly annoyed but looked down again,

''you brought me here, didn't you?''

I asked quietly and looked back at him. ''it got me out of class, so why shouldn't I?'' he said while grinning, ''I'm Kurosaki Ichigo by the way'' he groaned and I smiled faintly,

''Ichigo? Isn't that a girl's name?'' I asked while smiling more and received a deadly glare from him, ''the kanji is different. It's spelled as ''first'' and ''guardian'' so no, it's not…'' he grumbled annoyed but still somehow proud. I laughed faintly, enjoying the glare he was giving me. ''okay, I get it… I'm sorry''

He hummed something frustrated and looked to his side, looking like he was trying, to glare holes into the wall.

''by the way, are you often late?'' I asked while smiling faintly, not feeling too comfortable with the awkward silence. He scratched his head again and looked back at me, slightly grinning again. ''somewhat… it's starting to become a habit… the teacher hates me for it'' I remembered her glaring, ''yeah, I believe that''

''now, why did you move here? You don't look Japanese, but you speak it perfectly…'' he asked while folding his hands and resting his elbows on his knees. ''well… my mother is American and my dad is Japanese, they met when she was on holiday here… but…'' I stopped and almost bit my lip, but remembered the wound. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, ''but?'' I looked back at him and fiddled more with the blanket.

''Well… she went home pregnant with me and I never met my dad until last Friday'' I looked back at my hands, knowing that he was still wondering, why I had moved here, but I didn't feel like telling him, that my mother had just died in a car accident. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, noticing the puzzled look on his face.

''may I ask something?'' I asked softly and looked at him again, still fiddling with the blanket. He nodded quietly and I narrowed my eyes a little, ''how old are you? You honestly don't look like someone on my age'' he grinned again, leaning a little forward, so the muscles in his arms flexed. ''I'm 15, turning 16 in two months actually'' I must have looked chocked, since he suddenly started laughing and covered his mouth with his hand.

Right there, I had never seen anyone more attractive; the intensive brown eyes had a serious but still calm look in them, his now wry smile, broad shoulders and beautiful face features.

I felt how I blushed and looked down, hoping he hadn't noticed how I had looked at him. My muscles tensed when he suddenly stood up and stretched his back and shoulders, ''well, we better get back to class… you're okay again I guess'' he said and put his hands in his pockets, looking like he would rather do something else, then getting back to class.

I nodded quietly and followed him down, again feeling tempted to bite my lip while walking. The students starred at me with interest in their eyes; the story of my first impression had already spread through the hallways. This couldn't get worse…


	2. Chapter 2

High School in a new country, Japan to be precisely, even do it seemed different on the surface compared to America, it was still the same. Okay, people weren't as open about everything like I was used too, and here most of the girls tried to be cute with the way they did their hair, their make-up and their way of acting too, instead of sexy by showing as much skin as possible. It wasn't hard to imagine how some of my friends in America would use this uniform in a different way then they did here in Japan. Luckily, I wasn't the only girl who had pulled the skirt up, so it showed more skin, but I didn't wear the red bow like the other girls. I stood out by having my hair loose and I was so far the only one with natural curly, light brown hair. And of course, I didn't look Japanese at all, instead, it felt like the words 'California living' or 'American' was written on my forehead.

Already now, after my short time in the infirmary, the rumour about my fabulous first impression must have gone through the whole school. I had to struggle with myself while walking down the hallway; the students starring were embarrassing me too much. I knew my face was flushed; the burning heat in my cheeks couldn't be mistaken.

But I noticed how the schools students seemed to work. The cheerleaders were replaced with several clubs, so everyone belonged to a group, and the same was with the jocks.

It surprised me how many sports were popular here. I was used to football, soccer and basketball being the tops game. Here, baseball, tracking, tennis and volleyball were popular too.

I carefully looked up, glancing at Ichigo's back. He looked like a sports guy, otherwise, how could he be built like that if he wasn't? I pressed my lips together when I overheard two girls talking with low voices, ''look, it's that transfer student, Akede said she was such a drama queen'' both girls giggled amused and I felt like dying, my cheeks couldn't get more red.

''Hey, Akino-san?'' Ichigo turned his head and walked slowly, so he come down next to me. I noticed the height difference between us, ''I was thinking, why is your last name Japanese?'' I looked at him and hoped that my face looked somewhat normal again, ''my mother wanted to be sure that they could find my dad if something happened to her, so she arranged that I got his last name…'' I said calmly, still, I took a few seconds to remember the words, so I paused a few times.

''So your mom is-'' Ichigo was about to ask something when I interrupted him, ''she's having fun in Canada'' I hated lying, especially when Ichigo was the only I knew here, but it didn't want anyone's sympathy because she had just died. It would only make it worse. ''I'm not too happy with the cold, so I arranged this with my dad…'' I continued lying and stopped in front our classroom. I hated to be the first who entered a room. Ichigo seemed to read my thoughts and didn't hesitate to slide the door open and go in. ''Sounds a little weird to me…'' he grinned, still looking at me while we both walked in. I kept my eyes on him, trying to ignore the others while smiling softly, hoping that they would see me as a more normal girl now.

I turned my smile cuter, maybe if I acted like the other girls, I wouldn't be so bad but then it wouldn't be me anymore. I grumbled something in a low voice when Ichigo raised an eyebrow at me, ''you okay?'' I noticed I had stopped walking and stood starring at the floor. My face flushed quickly while I looked back at him, hoping that the others wouldn't have noticed me spacing out.

''No- I mean yes, I'm okay… I was just, what do you call it…'' I mumbled while looking down, trying to remember the translation for 'spacing out', ''you know… _spacing out_'' I said in English and looked back at him. He looked clueless and raised both eyebrows, ''what?'' I laughed gently at him, ''never mind… it's nothing'' I kept smiling until I remembered something and pressed my lips firmly together, ''ugh, you shouldn't now what happened to my stuff?'' Ichigo looked over his shoulder and made a gesture with his head in the direction, ''the teacher said it would be better if you sat next to me, so she moved your stuff… Its right there'' he looked back at me after speaking and I nodded slowly, not knowing what to say, instead, I was just looking at him.

I knew it seemed stupid, but his eyes seemed to be capable of swallowing you whole. It felt like those intense, brown eyes were eating me.

''Don't tell me the drama queen has a crush on Kurosaki already?'' I female voice appeared next to me, pulling me back to reality while looking at her and blushing. Three girls stood behind me, one stood a little closer to me while the other two stood behind her, looking at me with hate in their eyes. I figured the girl with dark, brown hair and matching brown eyes was the one who had spoken. Her hair was long and pulled back in a tight ponytail. Her shirt was crumbled and she had pulled her skirt longer up then the rest of us. Her make-up seemed over done for school, since she had fake lashes and a lot of black eyeliner. I noticed the two girls behind her looked the same. I raised both my eyebrows, what were they? The though girls of this school?

''leave her alone, Akede…'' Ichigo groaned and took a step forwards. Akede glared at him, almost hissing, ''fuck of Kurosaki! You're such an annoyance!'' Ichigo's face got stern, ''you're the fucking annoyance!'' Akede pressed her lips firmly together before quickly opening her mouth like the heaven was about to fall down on us.

''Yes yes, we know! Sit down people!'' the teacher yelled back at them both.

They hissed at each others before Ichigo stubbornly turned his back on them. I quickly followed him after receiving a glare from all three girls and the word 'bitch' tossed after me. When we sat down, I noticed how everyone, except Ichigo, was starring at me.

This was just getting worse…


	3. Chapter 3

The bell rang as a clear sign that the day was over. Everyone jumped up, instantly chatting and packing their books down in their bags. I sat, quietly, watching the others doing what they always did. A girl with long, orange hair appeared next to Ichigo, chatting while a shorter, black haired girl appeared too, joining them.

I stood up, packing my bag quickly and looking at my cell phone. Well, my dad wouldn't be home before late evening, so I didn't have to hurry, but I just wanted to get home. I heard the three talking behind me but I didn't listen to the words.

While putting my cell phone back in my pocket and trying to find my IPod, I swung my bag over my shoulder and left the classroom with quick steps. I put in the earplugs while walking and didn't notice anything else then the floor I was walking on and the people I had to avoid bumping into. I changed songs when I felt someone grapping my shoulder and roughly yanking in me. I looked around confused when my back hit a cold wall and my Ipod flew out of my hands and down on the floor, together with my bag and books.

Four girls stood in front of me, glaring like they could kill me with their eyes. I recognized three of them. Akede and two of her friends, but the last girl looked like the other girls. I noticed the room was a bathroom, but there was written things on the wall and it didn't look like one normal students used. I raised an eyebrow while thinking, if these girls were the ones who had written on the wall, this would kind of be their headquarters, but who would want a bathroom to be their headquarters?

I looked down at my Ipod before I glared back at them while wanting to pick my Ipod up, but Akede kicked it away with her food. I glared at her again, ''what was that?'' ''what did it look like?'' she asked while placing her hands on her small hips. ''Like a bitch on the move…'' I hissed at her, starting to pass them, but they all pushed me back against the wall. ''Listen, drama queen, I run this school and I hate girls like you!'' she hissed back and I raised my eyebrows, ''girls like me? Ugh, wait, this is the second time we met and the first time I speak to you. So how can you say you know me?'' I asked while smiling a little, it didn't seem like she had thought this through. Akede took a step closer to me, shacking her fist in my face, ''shut up! I know you enough to see, that you're a total loser and a slut!'' I pressed my lips together in anger, grabbing her fist while pushing her down on the floor. I glared at her again, pointing at her, ''you shut up! Don't try to act like a though girl, bitch! Leave me alone or you're the slut!'' I hissed before trying to pass them again when Akede hissed something to the girl next to her. I could barely turn me head before a fist hit me in my stomach. It felt like all air left my body and I stumbled backwards, ending back against the wall. I gasped softly, breathing quickly while Akede got back up. ''God hit, Hina…'' Akede mumbled and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking me down on my knees. I tried not to scream, but a muffled cry left my lips. I grabbed her hand with both mine while glaring up at her, ''Bitch! Let go!'' I yelled in anger and dug my nails into her skin. Akede hissed before letting go, pulling her hand back and starring at the red marks on her arm. I got back up, leaning against the wall while glaring at the four girls, trying to figure out why they were doing this.

''Hina, Mishi, hold her arms'' Akede hissed and the two girls quickly did as they were told. I tried to kick them and hitting them, but it was two against one.

''Akina, take her jacket…'' Akede commanded again but the smallest girl looked confused at her, ''she doesn't have one'' she said and Akede smirked, ''perfect, give me the water bottle'' I starred at Akede while Akina found a water bottle in her bag and handed it too her. ''No! no, you can't do that! Stop!'' I yelled, knowing what she was about to do and I didn't have anything under my white shirt then my white, lace bra. Akede smirked bigger while making sure the bottle was full before splashing the water in my face and on my shirt. She handed the bottle too Akina, who refilled the bottle and Akede emptied it on my shirt again; making sure it was see through. The wet and cold fabric pressed itself against my skin, successfully exposing my chest and stomach. Akede laughed while tossing the bottle down on the floor before hitting me in my stomach again, this time harder. I fell down on my knees and leaned forward when they let go of me. I coughed while hearing the water dripping down on the floor, forming a small puddle. ''See? SLUT!'' all four laughed satisfied while leaving and slamming the door.

I listened to the water dripping from my shirt. One, two, three drops. I leaned back, now looking at my Ipod while sitting on my knees. The front of my skirt started to get moist. I didn't know what to do, what to think now. Should I have a breakdown or just get up and try to leave with my head held high? I pressed my lips slightly together while reaching for my Ipod. The backside of it was scratched, but luckily, nothing had happened to the screen. I clenched my hand around it, hard enough for my knuckles to turn white. It was the last thing my mother had given me and it was the thing we had argued about before she drove of to work, but the truck ruined that. The truck ruined everything.

I sighed before getting up; brushing me knees clean before grabbing my books and putting them back into my bag, at lest they weren't wet too. I held my bag against my chest while peeking out the door. The halls were empty. Apparently, I had a little luck today, I small smile appeared on my lips while thinking that. ''Akino-san? I thought you'd already gone home?'' my smile faded as Ichigo's voice made it down the hallway. So much for luck, this was just too shitty. I looked over my shoulder, meeting his eyes. He was alone, smiling while walking casually towards me with his bag swung over his shoulder. He held it his right hand while the left was in his pocket. I faked a short smile; maybe he wouldn't notice my almost soaked shirt and the small stains of water on my skirt. ''H-hey…'' I mumbled and started walking when he came up next to me, so he wouldn't stop to talk. ''You're not lost, are you?'' Ichigo grinned amused. I pressed the bag harder against me chest, ''of course not, I just made a few new friends, that's all…'' I spoke while shrugging my shoulders softly. ''Really? Anybody I know?'' ''nope, I asked them and they didn't'' There, I lied again. This was surely why I had no luck, to much bad karma. Ichigo hummed in a low tune while looking like he was thinking too hard. I smiled a little when looking at him for a few seconds. ''Are you sure about that?'' he suddenly asked and moved in front of me. I stopped walking while looking confused at him, ''sure about what?'' ''about your new _friends_, are you sure I don't know them, because I really think I do'' Ichigo pressed his eyebrows together, looking like a stern teacher who wanted to know why you hadn't done your homework. ''yes, I'm sure…'' I mumbled while taking a step to the side, attempting to pass him. His hand grabbed my shoulder and held me back. ''Should I really tell you all their names?'' he asked annoyed and I looked down, ''you saw it?'' ''no, I saw them coming out, laughing, and then you came out…'' he paused, ''your shirt is still wet'' he mumbled the last words before moving around. I looked at him when he removed his hand, took his jacket of and gave it to me. ''Here…'' I took his jacket slowly, looking back and forth between it and him. ''You know, you're not the first they've pulled that stunt on'' he spoke calmly again while I turned my back on him. I put the bag down before taking a look around, there were no one else. I looked over my shoulder, ''turn around…'' I mumbled to him, blushing. He turned around, standing with his back against me. Quickly, I removed the wet shirt and took his jacket on. It was several sizes to big, but it made it more comfortable for me. I took the shirt in my hand before mumbling, ''you can turn back around now… and thanks'' ''no problem'' he said softly before nodding at the watch on the wall, ''let's get home, after all, we're trapped here again tomorrow…'' he smiled carefully and I returned it, nodding softly. ''come on, I'll follow you home…'' I grabbed my bag and stroked some hair behind my ear, ''really? Thanks…'' He smiled while starting to walk, ''no problem…'' he spoke relaxed and I followed him with a smile. Maybe I had some luck after all…


End file.
